frelinghuysen



1,662,803 7 G. 3. FRELTINGHUYSEN 7 March 13, 1928.

CAN 000mm APPA ATUS 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 9, 1925 March 13, 1928.

G. G. FRELINGHUYSEN CAN COOLING APPARATUS 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 9, 1925 Gear 6 Us Frez ghu ay VVITIVES-SES March 13, 1928.

, G. e. FRELINGHUYSEN CAN COOLING APPARATUS Filed Jul.v9, 1925 e Sheets-Shet 5 WITNESSESL- March 13,4928. 1,662,803

I G. G. FRELINGHUYSEN CAN COOLING APPARATUS Filed July 9. 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 George (i-F'elin qfiugsen,

March 13, 1928.

1,662,803 G. G. FRELINGHUYSEN CAN COOLING APPARATUS Filed July 9, 1925 -6 Sheets-Sheet 5 March 13, 1928. 1,662,803

I G. G. FRELINGHUYSEN CAN COOLING APPARATUS Filed July 9, 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented Mar. 13, 1928.

GEORGE G. FRELINGHUYSEN, NEWARK, NEW" JERSEY.

CAN-COOLING APPARATUS.

Application filed July 9, 1925. Serial No. 42,514.

This invention relates to a novel can cooling apparatus providing reliable and effective means for thoroughly and adequately .cooling sealed cans, thereby to place the contents of the can at a proper temperature to. prevent fermentation.

In the operation of canning liquids, and articles to be sealed partly or wholly in liquids or juices, that process ordinarily involves raising the temperatureof the contents of the can to a sterilizing heat of approximately 135 F., the material thus heated being introduced into the can by a filling machine, from which the filled can passes to a capping machine wherein the cap or can top is hermetically sealed. At this point in the canning process the can and its contents are quite warm, and unlessquickly and thoroughly coole'd arejsubject and liable to fermentation, resultingjfrequently in spoiling the product, and causing bulging of the can heads which is an indication of fermentation inthe can.

By the present invention a-pr'ompt and satisfactory cooling of the can and its con, tents is assured. To that'end the invention provides an apparatus includinginstrumentalities which provide for receiving the sealed cans from the capping machine in substantial quantities so that a large production of sealed cans can be handled at one operation to provide for fully cooling the same and their contents.

The invention also has, for a principal object the provision of means whereby the cans are given a rolling, as well as a rocking motion, thus affording an opportunity for all portions of the can contents to come in contact with the cool metal. This will effect a cooling of the can contents throughout, thereby reducing the temperature and properly completing the sterilization thereof.

The fundamental features of the invent-ion are necessarily susceptible of a wide range of structural modification without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention but a preferred and practical. embodiment thereof is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a diagrammatic plan view showing the general lay-out of the instrun'ientalities constituting the present apparatus.

Figure 2 is a vertical central horizontal sectional view of the cooling tank, omitting the feeding and delivery mechanism located respectively at opposite ends thereof.

Figure 3 is a top plan View of the feeding mechanism at the can receiving end of the cooling tank.

Figure 4 is a side view of the said can feeding mechanism.

Figure 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the can feeding mechanism on the line 7-7 of Figure l.

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional View of the can feeding mechanism on the line 8- of Figure 4.

Figures 7 and 8 are detail plan and sectional views respectively of the can feeding device for arranging the cans in single file order on the feeder belt as they are received from the can capping machine.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

In carrying forward the invention provision is made in the apparatus for handling a large number of sealed cans whereby factory production can be maintained in the filling and capping of the cans, simultaneously with an effective cooling thereof by means of the present apparatus. To that end the apparatus includes a capacious cooling tankdesignated generally by the referencecharaeter 1. Thistank may be constructed in any suitable manner,.but preferably is a relatively long rectangular structure essentially consisting of the bottom 2 and the side and end walls 3 and 4 respectively. The said tank is open at the top and has suitable piping connections 5 therewith whereby cool water, at a proper temperature, may be maintained at the proper level therein, and preferably kept in circulation so that as the cans are propelled or carried through the waterthey will be subject to the cooling act-ion thereof.

Operating through the cooling tank 1 is a canpropelling means which provides for propelling a number of cans at a time along a tank floor so that they may be effectively cooled. Preferably these can propelling means consist of an endless carrier consist ing of the endless chains 6 to which are connected in any suitable manner, as at 7, the transversely arranged and spaced propeller blades 8 which are arranged on the outside of the chains, and are carried thereby through the bottom portion of the tank longitudinally thereof in the direction indicated by the arrow in F igu're 2. The endless chains 6 carrying the propeller blades 8 operate over the sprocket wheels 99 and 10-10 located in pairs respectively at the opposite end portions of the tank; andcarried on the conveyor shafts 11 and 12, one of which shafts is preferably mounted in sliding bearing boxes 13 associated with take-up screws 14- or equivalent devices which provides for taking up slack in the conveyor and maintaining it at a proper operating tension. Power may be applied to the endless carrier or can propelling means in. any suitable manner, but this may be advantageously accomplisl ied by providing the shaft 12 at one end of the machine with a worm wheel l5 enga ged bya wormpinion 1 6 on a driving shaft 17 having a worm gear connection 18 with anelectrical motor 19', thereby completing an electric drive for the conveyor.

At the receiving end ofthe cooling tankthe cans are introduced into the same over a receiving table 21, and guided thereby into the space between a pair of the propeller blades 8. The inner end of the receiving table 21 connects with a downwardly and forwardly inclining guide" apron 2 2 which preferably is struck onthe arc of the circle of the sprocket wheel 9' so as to guide the. cans which lie between every pair of the propeller blades 8 onto the bottom portion of the cooling tank. To prevent the possibility of the cans as delivered from the re ceiving table 21 entering between the sprocke'ts 9 a guard plate or bar 23 is arranged inside of the circle of the propellerblades advancing downwardly in front of the table 21, said guard plate or bar being conveniently carried by supporting arms or brackets 24L suitably fastened as at 25 to the side walls of the tank 1, and provided with notches 26 detachably taking over the conveyor shaft 11 at one end of the tank.

A group of the sealed or capped cans as for example, five cans, are fed to the receiving table 21 over an inclined feeding chute 27 leadiiig off laterally from a traveling feeder 28 preferably arranged beyond and at right angles to the receiving end of the cooling tank. The feeder 28 preferably consists of an endless belt arrangedover the oppositel located belt rollers 29 and 30 carried upon the shafts 31 and 32 re spectiv'ely which are mounted in suitable bearings, and one of which shafts, for exam le, shaft 32, has a worm drive 33 or equiva ent connection with the operating motor 34. The upper run of the belt 28 extends over a fixed feed table 28? which supports the said run of the belt and the cans carried thereby, and the ca ped or sealed cans are fed to one end of the belt 28,in suitable order and in proper position, by means of a can guiding device which serves to direct the cans from the capping machine and assemble them in single file order on the receiving endportion of the upper run of the belt 28.

A preferable form of can guiding device having these desirable functions is shown in the accompanying drawings, and consists of an inclined flanged slideway or apron 35 which receives the cans upright from the de livery table 36 of the can capping machine. This slideway or apron 35 is preferably of a downwardly convergent form, serving to permit the cans to slide downward in an upright position until the lower end portion of the can encounters a fixed trip bar or shoulder 31 arranged transversely across the lower open end portion of the slideway or apron 35 and serving'to trip the upright can, causlng the same tov fall to a hor zontal positi'orr on to of the upperrun of the moving belt 28; yond the said trip bar or shoulder 37 there is arranged over and along one edge portion of the belt 28 acurved guiding wall 38 against which one end of the upset can will frictionally engage while the belt28 moving in the direction shown in Figures '4 and 8 draws the can into substantially the logitudina'l plane of the belt 28. In this way the cans are brought into single file order on the top run of the belt 28 and are advanced by the latter to a kick-off station where a groupof the cans, for example five, are shoved or kicked onto the inclined feeding chute 27 and from thence on to the receiving table 21 at the receiving end of the cooling tank.

The means for automatically throwing or kicking a number of the cans, as for example a group of five, off of the traveling feeding,

table or belt 28 may consistof any suitable instrumentalities having the capacity for doing that work but a preferable form of construction is shown in detail. in Figs. v5 and 6 of the drawings. Referring particularly to these figures of the drawings as well as to Figs. 3 and 4 it will be observed that the said throw-off device of the can feeding mechanism includes a push bar 89 arranged at one side of the fixed table 28 and the belt 28 ther'eover at a point parallel to and above the same, that is, in a position to engage against one side of the plurality at one end a stop bar 44 extending longittidinally of the fixed feed table 28' and normally projecting upwardly through a clearanee slot 45 therein so that the upper edge of the stop bar will normally project above the top of the table 28 in'the path of the cans on the delivering end'of the belt 28 so as to prevent them, from prematurely roll-- ing off onto the feeding chute 27 before the push bar 39 comes into action. A retracting spring 46 connected at one, end to a fixed point of attachment as at 47 and at its other end as at 48 to an arm 49 on the rock shaft 41 serves to normally hold said rock shaft ina position to normally holdthe push bar 39 in an inoperative position and the stop bar 44 in an operating position. At a convenient point thereon the rock shaft 41 has fitted thereto a cam projection 50 presenting at one side an abrupt engaging shoulder 51 adapted to be engaged by the end of an actuating detent 52 which end of said detent is bevelled at one side as at 53.

The detent 53 is movably mounted'in a a slide bar 54 which is arranged to slide horizontally beneath the table 28 in suitable aligned guides 55 and the lower end portion of the detent 52 has associated therewith a supporting spring 56 held in a suitable bracket 57 at the underside of the slide and serving to normally and yieldingly project the upper shouldered and bevelled end of the detent above the top surface of the slide 54. Accordingly, by reason of this construction it will be apparent that when the slide 54 is moved in one direction the flat or shouldered upper end thereof will engage against the'shoulder 51 of the cam projection 50 thereby rocking the shaft 41 in a direction that will snap the push bar 39 forwardly against the cans on the delivering end of the belt 28 and shove or kick said cans onto the feeding chute 27 in manner and at a time which will be more fully referred to later on.

Y A feature of practical importance in connection with the throw-off device or kicker of the can feeding mechanism is a detaining device which'is so timed in relation to the operation of the throw-off device or kicker as to temporarily detain or hold back the feeding of the cans from the delivery end of the feeding belt 28 until the throw-off device or kicker is actuated to shove the group of 'cans onto the inclined feeding chute 27 leading to the feeding-in end of the cooling tank. This detaining device in its preferable construction includes a brake shoe 58 arranged in a location slightly in advance of the location ofthe push bar 39, said brake shoe being mounted on an upstanding brake arm 59, the lower end of which brake arm is fitted to a rock shaft 60 mounted in suitable bearings 61 at the underside of the fixed feed table 28.

The rock shaft 60 for the detaining or braking device also has fitted thereto a rocker arm 62 having a shouldered flat tip 63 adapted to be engaged by the upper end of an actuating detent 64 having a bevelled face 65, the said bevelled upper end of the detent 64 being normally projected above the upper side of the slide 54 and adapted to engage in both directions of movement of said slide with the shouldered fiat tip 63 of the rocker arm 62. The said actuating detent 64 for the brake shoe rock shaft is preferably in the form of a pivotal member which is pivoted intermediate its ends as at 66 within a recess 67 in the slide bar 54 and the lower end of the pivotal member has connected thereto as at 68 one end of a coil spring 69 which normally acts to hold the upper part of the detent against one wall of the recess 67 so that as the slide bar 54 moves in the direction of the arrow shown in Figure 6 the pivoted end of the detent will serve'to lift the rocker arm 62, rocking shaft 60 in the direction which moves the brake shoe 58 into frictional detaining engagement with the can following the last can of the group which has been carried alongside of the push bar 39, and said brake shoe will be held in said operative position while the upper flat end of the detent 64 dwells on the flat part of the tip 63 of the rocker arm 62. Vhen the upper end of the detent 64 passes off of the flat part of said tip 63 the said arm 62 will rock as the brake shoe is eased from the can which it engages by the action of the spring 70.

It will be observed, in connection with the detaining device or brake for arresting the feed of cans on the belt 28 while the throwoff device or kicker is acting, that the table 28 is formed with a runway along that part of the belt where the detaining device or brake is located. This runway is preferably formed'by the fixed table 28 itself and the guard rails 71 which are mounted at the upper side of the table 28 and at oppositeside edges thereof and are provided with bevelled inner sides 72 against which the cans may freely slide and engage, and when the brake shoe 58 is pressed against a can that can' 'will in turn be pressed against the opposite guard rail 71 so that it. will be firmly held between that rail and the brake shoe until the latter eases off and permits the belt 28 to again take up its feed of cans in single file to their delivery position at one side of the push bar 39.

N ow, it will also be observed by reference to the details of the mechanism shown in Figure 6 of the drawings that upon the movement of the slide bar 54 in the direction indicated by the arrow that the actuating detent 52 comes against the shoulder of the cam projection 50 of the rock shaft 41 and atv the same time the detent 64 has raised the rocker arm 62 and holds it in that position fora ip'e'r'iod of'time sufiicient to hold back the feeding of "the cans while the detent 52 operates the rock shaft 41 and the push :har 39 thereby to discharge a group of the cans onto the chute 27 and from thence to the receiving table 521 and between the propeller blades in the cooling tank. In these operations the .slide 54 :may be reciprocated in any suitable manner, as for instance, by the pitma-n 73 pivotally connected at one end 'asat Tizto the slide 5 l and at its other end to the wrist pin 75 .on the crank wheel 76 mounted on its shaft 77 which may be conveniently driven by the chain or equivalent belt 78 driven from a sprocket or equivalent wheel 7.9carried on the endless carrier shaft llassociated with the cooling tank; the take- .up device 1314; previously referred to assisting also to maintain a proper take-up or tension on the chain or belt 78. It will also be noted that the adjacent one extreme end of the traveling feeding belt 28 there is arranged over said -belt a stationary stop 80 of any suitable form to act as a limiting stop :to arrest the movement of the group of cans which have been .carriedby the belt 28 to a position at one side of the push bar 3) of the throw-oft .or kicker device.

It *hasfbeen previously pointed out that the group of eans'delivered by the can feeding mechanism into thereceiving end of the cool ing tank are rolled along a floor or bottom of the tank, thereby submitting the cans and their contents to a very thorough and extended cooling and as the cans reach the delivery end of the tank-they are propelled upwardly by the blades Set the endless carrier over a terminal guide plate or member 81 and onto a delivery table 82, the said delivery table being preferably inclined so that the cans will roll therefrom to any suitable carrying devices 83 not claimed herein.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction, operation and .many advantages of the herein described invention will now be apparent Without further description and it Will of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

belt, and a discharging or kicker device for I the cans over the belt.

3. A can handling apparatus including a can feedlng mechanism comprising a feeding belt, a can guiding device 'l'iavinga slidev way for the sealed cans in upright position, and arranged in a plane at rightangles to said belt, means for tripping the cans onto the belt and :a guiding wall arranged over the belt and having means for assembling the cans end to end in single file order on the belt, and a discharging :or kicker device for the cans over a portion of the belt.

4. A can handling apparatus including a can feeding mechanisnr comprising a driven belt, acan discharging device consisting of a spring-held rock shaft carrying a push bar and .a cam projection and a re ciprocating slide carrying an actuating detent. for engaging said cam projection.

5. A can handling apparatus including a can feeding device comprising a driven belt, acan discharging device consisting-of a spring retracted rock shaft carrying "a push bar operating against cans on the belt and a shouldered cam projection on said shaft, a detaining device consisting of a rock shaft carrying a brake shoe for engaging with the can on the belt and also carrying a rocker arm, and a recprocating slide bar carrying separate detents respectively engagin'v the cam projection on one rock shaft and the rocker arm on the other rock shaft, the action of said detents being so timed that the brake member Will engage and detain a can during the movement of the push bar to discharge cans from the belt.

6. A can handling apparatus including a can feeding mechanism comprising a feeding belt for carrying the cans in single file order, and inclined chute on which the cans in a semi-vertical position slide, means for upsetting the cans from the chute onto the belt, means for bringing a group of the horizontal cans on the belt to an assembled position end to end and means for rolling the assembled cans ofi the belt to a desired position.

7. A can handling apparatus including a can guiding device having a gravity slide- Way for causing the sealed cans to slide downward in a semi-upright position, means for upsetting the sealed cans to horizontal position, means for conveying the horizontal cans to an assembled position end to end and means for rolling the assembled cans to a desired position.

8. A can handling apparatus including a can feeding mechanism comprising carryon the carrying means to an assembled posiing-means for moving the cans in single file tion end to end, and means for rolling the order, an inclined chute or Way on which assembled group of cans to a desired posi- 1 the cans in a semi-vertical position slide, tion.

5 means for upsetting the cans from the chute In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my or Way onto the said carrying-means, means signature. for bringing a group of the horizontal cans GEORGE G. FRELINGHUYSEN. 

